Red Sox Land Martinez for Less Than Imagined

The biggest piece Boston dealt was 24-year-old right-hander Justin Masterson. Masterson is 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA. Masterson is obviously young but offers some flexibility; he has made six starts this season but has been used mostly as a reliever, appearing in a total of 31 games this season.

Martinez is hitting .284 this year with 15 home runs and 67 RBI and provides a welcome glut of hitters. Boston Manager Terry Francona will have to juggle Mike Lowell (3B), Kevin Youkilis (1B/3B), Jason Varitek (C) David Ortiz (DH) and Martinez (1B/C) so the tricky part will be who sits out of that group on a given day. The Red Sox will also control Martinez next season as his contract features a $7 million club option for 2010.

Boston was also able to flip recently acquired first baseman Adam LaRoche in a trade earlier today with Atlanta for first baseman Casey Kotchman which adds depth to the Red Sox' bench.

Of course this deal cost Boston some stability in its bullpen but not the organization's absolute best prospects, giving up pitchers Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price who both are currently plying their trade in Class A.

Maybe the Red Sox will use someone of that group to play SS. That'd be an awesome sight for any of them, but especially Ortiz. He's everything you don't want.

But seriously, they're set at every position except SS, what are they going to do? None of those 4 are going to be happy relegated to the bench. Maybe the can get through with the honeymoon period this year, but what happens next year?

I think, after this season, we'll see the end of the Varitek era. Granted he has a 3 million dollar player option, but I think the Sox will make do with V-Mart's sub-par catching to get his bat in the lineup every day. They'll probably make it very clear to Tek that they appreciate his services, but if he exercises his option he'll be a $3 million backup catcher/pinch hitter.

Hagadone has a lot of potential. Guess we'll see in a few years if he lives up to it. Don't know much about Price. Suppose whether or not Boston "pulled a fast one" depends on how Hagadone does, which is often how these things work out.